Some Friendly Neighborhood Advice
by Splinter-the-dragonqueen
Summary: Into the Spider-verse: Peter B. Parker had a bit more on his mind during the convergence of the six worlds than teaching Miles the basics of being Spiderman (besides his amazing baby powder advice). So he leaves behind a note outlining a couple of tips that he wished he would have known when he was just starting out as a hero. Each chapter Miles learns just how true the advice is
1. Intro

Miles Morales silently slipped into his dorm room window.

It was late on a Saturday night and the young student was returning after a long day of fighting crime. He closed the window behind him softly, letting out a sigh of relief. There was a bit of chill in the Brooklyn air so he was grateful for the warm room.

He took off his cowl and ran long fingers through his frizzy hair. Smiling to himself he chuckled, "Good work today Spiderman"

Before he forgot, he whipped out his phone that he kept in a hidden pocket in his suit and started texting his roommate, Ganke, who was at home visiting family.

'Yo I'm back in.'

'Cool, u good?' Ganke replied almost instantly.

'Yeah not too rough tonight. Couple muggings. Few car break ins. Nothin srs. '

'Cool cool'

'Cool?'

'Shut up Miles its 2am XP go to bed'

'Duly noted. Night'

'Night'

Ganke was the only one Miles had told about the whole powers thing. Mostly because it would be really hard to coordinate sneaking in and out to perform his civil duty while remaining undetected. It was much easier if they were just on the same page.

Which actually turned out for the best since it was just the icebreaker they needed. They actually became almost instant friends, having a lot in common with each other.

Miles always texted Ganke when he left and when he came back from his vigilante endeavors (if they weren't in the room at the same time). It was a lot safer for Miles to have someone know where he was, especially when he was so new at this. Ganke could always call for help if Miles went missing.

Ganke liked to call himself 'the guy in the chair', which Miles did not entirely understand but it made his roommate happy so whatever.

Miles pulled off his suit, contemplating a shower. Having to gather all his toiletries for a shower in the communal bathroom didn't seem very enticing. He'd rather grab some food and head to bed. Besides, he hadn't sweat THAT much.

And no one was around to smell him soooo shower could wait.

He changed into some comphier clothes and sat down at his desk chair. He grabbed a granola bar that he had set out for himself for later.

"Joder, maybe I should take a shower..." Miles cursed. No one may be around to smell him but he sure could smell himself.

He grabbed his backpack and started rifling through it. He had packed his deodorant in there somewhere...

Of course he couldn't find it anywhere. So he started dumping things out. He was too tired for this.

This process just ended up with the entirety of his bag contents on the floor.

Miles sighed and rubbed his face. He slouched in his desk chair. Why was everything so complicateddddd wait a second.

A piece of folded paper caught his eye. He felt a small tingle on the back of his neck. Why would his spider sense go off at a slip of paper?

Miles jumped back a bit, climbing up his chair, surprised at the sensation. It didn't feel like danger...it felt like...

Slowly, he climbed off the chair. He reached with his foot and kicked the paper slightly.

When it didn't explode, Miles picked it up and unraveled it. It was a torn piece of paper...looked to be from his sketchbook.

On it was a scribbled message:  
_

Miles

Hey kid, I know I didn't have too much time to teach you so I wrote down a couple of things that I would have liked to know when I was just starting out. Sorry I'm not great with advice but I hope this helps.

Good luck Spiderman

\- Peter  
_

Miles scoffed, rolling his eyes at the remark. Peter B. was a mystery.

Any advice could be good advice. His 'mentor' might have some weird ways of doing things, but they were definitely effective. His baby powder tip sure was helpful.

Miles sat back in his desk chair, bit into the granola bar and started to read.


	2. 1) Don't forget to Eat

1) Don't forget to eat

It was a rather quiet night in Brooklyn and Miles Morales was swinging back to school; proud that he was the reason it was so quiet.

As soon as the school day had ended, and he had breezed through his homework, the young hero had taken to the streets to scout for a potential fight.

He didn't have to wait very long for action. As soon as the sun went down, the crime activity went up. In fact, it was pretty early on when his spider senses started tingling. He followed his instinct, finding Doc Oc robbing some sort of medical research facility.

He had even beaten the police there.

After an intense battle, Doc Oc retreated like she always did, and Miles swung outside to answer some questions to the incoming first responders. Thankfully no one was hurt...except him.

His chest stung and his muscles ached. He had been slammed into a wall fairly early in the fight.

The first responders asked if he needed any medical attention. He never did. So he laughed and said:

"Yeah you should see the other guy...er girl"

With a quick shrug, the first responders ran off to go help anyone inside. Miles left them to it. He peeked at his phone, noting the time, and decided to swing back. Thankfully weekdays were not a heavy day for major crimes, as his nightly patrol proved nothing sinister afoot. He could hang out at his dorm and sense for any other major threats. Plus he could probably use a bit of a break.

And as he was swinging, he noticed something. His head felt heavy and his breathing was a bit rough. He was...tired. Tired all the way down to his bones.

He made a mental note to get more sleep. He usually didn't need too much but he had been burning the candle at both ends so to speak this week. Thankfully it was Thursday so he only had to survive one more day and then he could sleep in.

He was very glad when he landed on the roof of his school. He was having a hard time seeing straight, he was so exhausted. After a quick scout to see if anyone was around, he climbed down slowly to his dorm room window and climbed inside.

He squinted as the fluorescents in the room hurt his eyes. His chest ached; from injury or heavy breathing he couldn't tell.

"Miles? You're home early" His roommate, Ganke said as he swung around in his computer chair. Miles could hear the full sound of the base coming from the music in Ganke's headphones that hung around his neck.

But Miles couldn't respond, he felt like he couldn't breathe. He stumbled into the dorm. His feet weren't working right. Miles tore off his mask, gasping for breath.

"What's wrong dude? You alright?" He heard his roommate stand up. Heard? When had he closed his eyes.

His spider sense rang deep in the back of his head before he fell forward on the floor.

Thankfully he was able to catch himself at the last minute so his face didn't fall flat onto the tile.

But his arms gave out next, so he fell (a little short distance) after all.

He was faintly aware of someone violently shaking him.

"Cut it out" he breathed, his lungs only now starting to fill with precious oxygen. His vision returned and he was able to squeeze open his eyelids to see the face of a panicked Ganke.

"Wha happened?" His breathing began to return to normal. He sucked in deep breaths trying to clear his fuzzy vision.

"Dude you like passed out" Ganke practically shrieked. "I thought you might have died for a second"

Miles looked around. He was indeed on the floor.

"What? Nah. No I didn't pass out" The young hero exclaimed, trying not to slur his words. He pushed himself up quickly to show that he was indeed okay, but his muscles didnt seem to want to listen. So he decided to push himself into a sitting position, leaning against their desk. "I must've just tripped. Probably on your laundry."

"And you're bleeding!" His roommate's eyes went even wider, ignoring the words, as Miles sat up. "A lot. Are you okay?"

"Oh right...the bleeding" Miles' hand wandered to his chest, wincing as his light touch stung through the fabric. He tried to ignore the amount of blood that had spilled to the ground in a small puddle "Courtesy of our favorite doctor. Her limbs must have been sharper than I remembered"

"Sh-Should I get the nurse?!" His roomate stuttered alarmed. Miles really wasn't sure why until he looked further at his suit. His vision was strangely blurry but he did notice with some effort that his black fabric was even darker than usual. The whole front of his suit was absolutely smothered in blood.

"Yeah I'm sure that'll go over well. Oh hey Miles! Got a gaping hole in your chest? That's not suspicious at all" Miles felt panic start to bubble within him as well. Why was he bleeding so much? Did he get hurt worse than he thought? I mean he did pass out...allegedly.

He peeled off the top part of his suit so that the cloth bundled around his waist. He used to be uncomfortable changing in front of his roommate, but they had reached that understanding between each other that every roommate eventually reaches: just don't make a big deal out of it cause it's no big deal.

Miles observed his chest, and let out a sigh of relief. It didn't look bad at all, it was just bleeding...a lot.

"Huh" Miles sat up a bit straighter. "That is definitely not that bad."

"Uh, Morales, I think you and I have different definitions of the term 'bad'" Ganke chuckled nervously. "Do you think you need stitches? Cause I did not sign up for that"

"No scaredy cat it doesn't need stitches, also remind me never to get really hurt cause I'll be dead with you as my doctor" He knew bad cuts. And this one definitely wasn't. But he should clean it up. If his healing wasn't working he would have to make sure it did not get infected.

"Man, I should probably take a shower, get all this blood off." He muttered, mostly to himself. He stood up but for some reason, the world started tilting. Was there an earthquake? Surely his spider sense would have-

"Miles!? Dude you can not die on me like this!" Ganke was yelling above him. He was unsure why Ganke was above him when he had just stood up.

What he did know was that his roommates voice was very loud.

"Would you please stop talking" The young hero's voice came out weaker than he anticipated. God, what was wrong with him? He felt awful.

"Can you please stop passing out?!" His roommate retorted, mild hysterics touching the end of his sentence.

"I'm not" Even at this point Miles didn't believe himself...he didn't want to think about that though.

"How will I explain a dead body in my room...a dead body. Dressed as spiderman. They're gunna think I killed spiderman. I'll have to go into hiding-"

Miles decided to stop listening as Ganke rambled on about witness protection programs. He had to concentrate. Why wasn't his healing factor working? And come to think of it, now his spider senses seemed to be failing as he had fallen to the floor without notice. Was it something he did during the fight? Did Doc inject him with something? No that seemed unlikely, he would have sensed something like that. Should he go get help? Aunt May would definitely help him...if he could make it there.

...What would the others do?

And then it hit him.

"Ganke, please...listen" Miles hissed out through his teeth. A headache was starting to form as the blood seemed to beat harshly at the temples of his forehead. "I need you...to focus."

"Yes! Focus. Im focused." Ganke turned, sitting in his chair awkwardly like he was trying to suppress further panic.

Miles breathed in, speaking the words slowly "Go. Get me. A cheeseburger"

They stared at each other.

For a second, Miles thought that the message didn't get through. He opened his mouth to repeat himself but Ganke cut him off.

"I'm sorry, I could have sworn you said go get-"

"Yes, go get a cheeseburger. "I think there's a Burger Queen across the street"

"I mean sure but if you're hungry I have some snacks-"

"No it's not a hungry thing it's a blood loss thing" Miles was starting to feel dizzy again. He wanted to stop talking and lie down...well he was lying down but on his bed would be preferable. "Burgers have like iron and protein and stuff. We learned about it in health class."

"I thought burgers were bad for you"

"Well yeah they're not good for you but I don't think I have to worry about cholesterol levels right now. Come on dude, curfew is in like...what time is it even?"

The young spider rubbed his face wearily. "Uh it's almost ten. We've still got some time. You only passed out for-"

"Didn't pass out" He did, but he couldn't let rumours get around that Spiderman faints so easily. Not that they would but his mind was too jumbled to think about that right now.

"Right. You...closed your eyes for like five minutes" Ganke rolled his eyes.

"Well I'm going to close my eyes for longer if you don't get going" Miles huffed out frustrated. This conversation felt way longer than it needed to be.

"Okay sorry!" Ganke got up and grabbed his coat off the chair. "I'll be right back!"

"Hurry please." He tried to not let the sense of urgency show in his tone.

"Wait, Miles!" Ganke said turning around instead of grabbing the door and leaving.

"What!?"

"Do you want fries?"

"For fucks sake Ga-"

"Okay okay I'm going!"

Ganke closed the door and Miles could hear him rushing down the hallway. He breathed deeply, trying to get the pounding to settle in his head.

Miles felt himself drifting...nodding off.

It was nice. He didn't get much time to just relax, crime never sleeps.

He didn't mind that though. He absolutely loved being spiderman.

The peace didn't last long. After what felt like five seconds, but in reality was closer to twenty minutes, Miles was called out of sleep when the dorm room door was unlocked and open.

"Hey dude still alive in here?" The smell of fast food flooded his senses and his mouth instantly started to water. Miles sat up, more alert. "eh more or less"

"I got a couple big macks" Ganke said, throwing a wrapped burger at Miles like a softball, who caught it expertly. "And some fries for me because it smelled too good for me NOT to get fries"

Miles tore into the package greedily, not caring that he spilled some extra lettuce and onion on himself. He hadn't realized how hungry he had been until he smelled the greasy food. "Oh Lord this is delicious" He tried to say as he swallowed the first bite, but in reality it came out more of as "mmmmph dewismmph"

"Yeah yeah, you owe me ten bucks"

"Sure after my kickstarter takes off" He joked through bites.

Ganke scoffed and they ate in silence for a while. Well, almost silence. Miles didn't want to admit that he was making some pretty gross mouth noises trying to shove the burger down his throat as fast as humanly possible. Every bit seemed to fill him with more energy, clearing his head and alleviating his pain.

"Yo slow down there ya animal, the burgers aren't going anywhere jeesh you're gunna choke" His roommate raised an eyebrow at him.

"Si madre" Miles sneered jokingly. "And technically I'm an arachnid jerk"

"Hey, looks like your healing factor's workin" Ganke pointed out around a handful of fries.

"huh" Miles looked down at his chest. The wound had indeed stopped bleeding and was starting to mend itself around the edges. "Neat."

"Yeah you must have a higher metabolism now. Spiderman definitely had one...well in the comics he did" Ganke pointed out. "But you shouldn't rely on burgers to not die. What did you even eat today?"

Miles thought for a moment, finishing off his burger and starting on another one. "Well I skipped breakfast cause I was late and dinner because I was crime fighting..." He stopped because he swore he could feel Ganke staring at him. "What?"

Ganke scoffed "You're an idiot"

"Am not!"

"Think of it this way." Ganke munched on a fry. "You're like a professional athlete. Haven't you seen on social media how much athletes eat?"

"I guess."

"We're making an eating chart for you"

"Not another chart G!"

"And while I'm at it we're getting you a water drinking reminder app on your phone"

"You're the lamest sidekick, you know that right"

"Can't fight crime on an empty stomach"

"You sound like my dad"


	3. 2) Learn to Sew

2) Learn how to sew

"Oh I am so going to regret this..." Miles Morales muttered as he stood outside of the closed classroom door.

He swayed gently on the balls of his feet, gripping his backpack tightly as he debated turning around and giving up. He really didn't want to go in.

He was hoping his spider senses would go off signaling danger...maybe a bank robbery...a fire...god, he would even take a cat stuck in a tree compared to this.

But sadly, not even a tickle of danger. Thanks a lot powers...

Sucking in a deep breath, Miles pushed open the door and walked in.

As almost reflex, Miles took in his surroundings quickly. It was a small classroom, nothing out of the ordinary. There were a couple of motivational posters on the wall spaces expressing that reading is fun-demental. It had large windows on the other wall, facing the outside. There were a group of students who had moved some of the desks in the front of the room put into a neat circle.

There was one girl speaking as she held up a needle and cloth. She stopped speaking at the sound of the door opening.

There were 5 students in total. And Miles felt even more nervous when he realized that they were all girls.

"Oh hello," The girl who had been speaking greeted him, "the basketball tryout meeting is the next door over"

She then turned back to the other students, and held up the needle and cloth once more. "Now today we're-"

"...ACT-ually I'm here to learn to sew" He stuttered quickly, cutting her off.

His stomach clenched in embarrassment as everyone in the group turned to face him. 10 eyes fixed upon him.

"Oh." The head girl replied, making an O shape with her mouth. "You do?"

"Yeeeeaaah," Miles laughed nervously, looking down. His cheeks felt hot with all the girls staring. "Ya know, just trying to push past that gender stereotype and learn a useful skill?"

That definitely was not the case.

It had taken him all of three fights with the scorpion to know that Peter's weird advice was valid. The spidey suit was very durable, but it could be torn by strong adversaries. And since Miles was new to the game, his dodging wasn't entirely second nature just yet. Sure spider sense warned him that a massive tail with a javelin attached to the end of it was coming down upon him. He just hadn't been able to jump out of they way of every attack yet.

He was getting better with avoiding attacks. But Aunt May wouldn't always be available to help sew up the small tears that inevitably appeared. As she put it "she has no problem with helping, but she has a life too".

A sweet way to say 'come on kid it's not that hard for you to learn it too'

Plus she had already taught him how to make web fluid, repair his web shooters, etc. So he could probably figure out this one without bothering her.

But the lie was an acceptable answer to the group. The head of the group sat down and motioned for Miles to do the same.

He took off his back pack and sat down in one of the open chairs in the circle.

"Sorry, we've had a lot of boys come here on accident today" The head girl explained as Miles settled in. "Apparently this is where they usually hold the meeting."

"Its cool" Miles said, settling into the chair. "I do get mistaken for a basketball player a lot. Must be cause I'm tall."

Yeah and probably because he was staring to 'get ripped' as his roommate put it. Thanks to all the late night intense battles his body had started to fill out with lean muscles.

He won't deny posing in front of a mirror once or twice when no one was looking.

But he definitely could not try out for sports. That would be A) a time commitment that he couldn't afford and B) a huge potential secret identity revealer.

"We should probably go over names again" The girl sitting next to him suggested, breaking him from his thoughts of being a sports god.

"I'll go first" the head girl stood quickly, flipping her ponytail back. "My name is Monica and I'm a senior. I've been seeing since I could hold a needle. And I'm the club president."

'Senior girl nice. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all' Miles thought happily. How many freshman could say they hung out with upperclassmen.

Monica sat down and gestured to the girl on her right to go.

The other girl did not stand or speak with the same gusto. "I came here with my friend, Kat" She paused to point her thumb at the girl next to her. "My name is Bri, I'm a junior, and I've only been seeing for a couple months"

"As she said my name is Bri, short for Briana, and I've been sewing for about two years" Bri sat upright when she talked. "Oh and I'm a junior as well"

The girl sitting next to him nodded, "I'm Carla, a sophomore. I've been sewing in this club for only a few weeks but I've been sewing for a long time."

The four of them turned to the last girl expectantly.

She looked up briefly at them, she was chewing gum, sewing something and looking uninterested. "Arin"

She popped a bubble and was silent. Then everyone turned to Miles.

"Oh, uh. My name is Miles, I'm a freshman and I haven't ever sewed before" He said.

"That's okay, you'll learn quickly." Monica said cheerfully. "We're all self taught and we teach each other every week"

The girls nodded and went back to their own work. Monica stood up, bringing him two pieces of blue cloth, a needle, a thimble, and some black thread.

"I'm assuming you'll want to learn how to sew clothing." Monica smiled.

"How'd you guess?" Miles took the materials out of her hand.

"That's usually what people want to learn when they randomly show up during the middle of the semester. Plus your pants are ripped."

"Hey that's just called style!"

"Sure." Monica kneeled down next to him. "First we thread the needle."

"Here, I don't need the thimble. I think it will just get in the way." Miles handed the thimble back to her.

"Okay but when you're bleeding all over your work don't complain to me." Monica took the thimble.

She demonstrated how to thread the needle, using a bit of spit to flatten out the string.

Miles got it on the first try. He was pretty good at hand eye coordinated activities even before he got his powers.

Monica was impressed. She drove into the short lesson. After Miles was able to sew a couple of seams, she nodded and said to keep practicing. She left him to it, going to work on her own project.

Miles sat for about ten minutes in somewhat silence. The girls chatted around him. He focused on each push of the needle. He was picking it up rather fast.

A bit bored with the repetitive motion, he started glancing at the other's works. Monica was working on some sort of quilt with the two friends. Arin was sewing a patch onto a black hat.

The girl sitting next to him though, was sewing a little red doll.

Oh no way, he smirked.

"Hey that's a pretty good Spiderman." Miles' sudden remark made her jump slightly.

"Oh! Thanks." She looked down, a bit sad. "He...he was my favorite superhero"

"Yeah" Miles smiled slightly. "Mine too"

"I can teach you how to make one." She said nervously, as she put down her material and picked up a couple pieces of red fabric. "I've made almost a hundred. I give them to the kids at the hospital when I'm done with them. They're really easy to make."

"Uh sure" Miles took the fabric from her, putting down the practice cloth that he was given before. "Why Spiderman dolls?"

"Like I said they're pretty easy to make" She shrugged, handing him some pre cut fabric. "And the kids seem to love them. Although now..." she paused. "Now I just make them so that they'll remember him"

"That's pretty cool" He rubbed the back of his head.

She told him where to sew, it was basically the same type of thing he was doing before. Miles quickly dove into the project. The small cutout was some red fabric cut out like a teddy bear but without the ears. Then they would sew additional blue fabric on, some eyes, and then the hard part; the spider pattern.

Miles laughed to himself inside. He had meant to make his own Spiderman, but the doll was too chubby. It reminded him more if Peter B. Now all he needed was a tiny pair of grey sweatpants.

It was after he started on the spider pattern that Carla spoke up once again.

"Spiderman saved me once ya know"

"Oh no Miles now you've done it" Bri joked mockingly, causing him to look up from his work. "Now we have to hear the story again"

"Hey it's a good story!" Carla said defensively.

"I'd like to hear it" Miles shrugged. "I feel like almost everyone can have a spiderman saved me story...if you've lived in New York long enough"

"You're definitely correct there" Carla laughed. "So...I was walking home late at night, trying to visit my parents. I usually take the bus but I had forgotten it. It's not the long of a walk so I thought I could just walk it."

"In New York. At night. Alone. A great idea." Bri added sarcastically.

"Yeah in hindsight not my brightest idea." She shrugged. "Anyways I was about half way there when someone jumped out of the alley. They had a gun. They demanded I give them my backpack. I gave it to them and they ran off down the street. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there. But then suddenly, Spiderman swooped down from out of nowhere. He tackled the robber and wrapped him in spider web faster than I could comprehend what was going on. Then he picked up the backpack and turned around yelling 'Is this yours?' I didn't know what to say so I nodded. He swung over to me and then asked where I was going"

"And then he walked you home" Kat finished Carla's story for her.

"Yeah he was awesome! But as soon as I was at my front door he was gone. Probably had other places to be." Carla looked up as if remembering the experience fondly.

"Spiderman definitely had better places to be then to walk your stupid ass home" Bri joked.

They laughed and started chatting once again.

"Yeah, he had to save me once too" Miles mumbled softly, mostly to himself.

"No way really!? What happened!?" Carla's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Oh uh" Miles stuttered. "Well about the same. I was out late, at the subway. I, uh, might have been doing some graffiti." He smiled. "And I accidentally ran into him mid fight."

Miles stopped. A sadness began to well up in his chest. He coughed trying to ignore the feeling and focus on his doll. "And well I pretty much ran away as soon as I saw them fighting"

"Oooh who was he fighting?" Monica asked.

"I...didn't get a good look." Miles didn't look up. "I ran away pretty fast. But if he wasn't there..." he stopped talking.

They were silent again for a while.

"What do you think about the new Spiderman?" Miles asked finally, trying to break the silence. .

"Well, he's young. But they say that Peter was 15 when he started. So who's to say" Carla shrugged.

He wondered if Peter B. had also started at 15. And he wondered how old he was now. And how much did he weigh. Maybe he should add more stuffing to the doll.

A very small ringing in his head went off right before he was about to prick his finger. Okay spidey sense chill, a single prick to the finger is not life threatening danger.

He leaned in more to focus on the finishing details, trying to make the line as straight as possible to hide the seam.

"That's not looking half bad Miles." Monica spoke up. "We'll make a sewing master of you yet!"

"Yeah you think?" He held up the chubby doll. "That was fun. I can see why you've made so many Carla.

She took the doll, taking some scissors to the loose thread to finish it for him. "I'm glad you had fun!"

She gave him back to the fool to admire it. He held it up smiling, then realized oh he probably should 'donate' it.

"Here, did you want it?" Miles tried to hand it to the girl but she put her hands up in refusal.

"You should keep it" Carla smiled "use it as a reference. I kept my first one as well."

"Oh sure, cool thanks." He looked at the chunky doll, laughing quietly to himself. He would have to make another one for his universe's Peter. Maybe he could swing by the grave site and drop one off as a memento.

A faint sensation called him from his thoughts. Far off danger in the city. It was time to get going to work.

"Well it's been real." Miles said standing up from his desk. "Thanks for the lesson. I gotta go do some homework so I'm gunna bail early."

"Sure thing, come back any time." Monica nodded. "It's always nice to have some new faces"

Miles turned to walk out of the classroom, waving as everyone said goodbye and went back to their sewing.

Miles looked down at the little spiderman doll in his hand. Aunt May was right, it wasn't that hard to learn.

He shoved the doll in his backpack and started walking down the hallway. Talking about the old spiderman brought up a lot of emotions that he had been trying not to acknowledge.

He was sad for the loss of a great hero, he has lonely as he remembered his other spider friends, he was slightly angry at Kingpin for killing his potential mentor.

But he was also filled with pride, that he had been chosen for such a high responsibility and honor. And he was excited for further adventures and challenges that awaited him.

The one thing Miles knew for sure, nothing he would face would be scarier than a room full of judgemental girls. (He laughed at his own joke in his head)

Miles knew he would get the sewing thing down with a few more classes and then could leave the group to focus more on crime fighting. He already felt confident enough to start repairing his suit today.

Maybe he could make a doll for all his spider friends...


	4. 3) Watch out for Rookies

3) Watch out for Rookies

"I have GOT to work on my speed" Miles Morales huffed out frustrated as he launched himself forward once more into the air.

It was a cool, fall day in Brooklyn. Leaves were kicked up into the air as he swung very low to the ground only to be shot up into the air once more. He was trying to gain more momentum to increase his speed.

Peter had talked briefly about optimal angles for releasing and Miles was trying his best to think about the lesson he had just had in Physics the other day (one he should be doing homework on instead of this). But regardless of how quickly he was gaining speed, the target in front of him kept the same distance away.

His adrenaline was high, he felt at home with his powers; feeling every shift and move within his muscles propel him faster through the streets. The windows and trees were almost a blur in his vision. The chase was the perfect combination of exciting and challenging.

Miles would say that he was having a blast even...if lives weren't on the line.

A villain called, you ready for this? The Kangaroo, Miles still couldn't say that name without giggling slightly. Yeah sure his name wasn't all that creative either but it's not like he had a say in picking it. But anyway, kangaroo had been robbing a bank (what was with these villains and robbing things), taking several hostages. When Miles had arrived, the springy villain had hopped away with a bag of cash in one hand and a hostage in the other saying 'no one follow me or this guy gets it.' Which probably would have been more intimidating coming from someone who didn't look like the Easter bunny with a rat tail.

So of course Miles was now hot on the trail, still trying to figure out how he wanted to handle the situation.

He heard police sirens in the distance. He doubted they could help any in this situation. It was too dangerous, they might hit the hostage.

A particularly high release sent Miles rocketing into the air. He gained a bit of distance in between the two.

"Hey Kangaroo I'm coming for you!" He called out, managing to attrack the attention of the villian.

Surprisingly enough, the Kangaroo stopped hopping when he heard Spider man call out. He settled himself on a roof and turned to face the young hero; a scowl on his face that did not fit the demeanor of his outfit.

"Man you are really quick!" Miles landed on the rooftop and put his hands on his knees catching his breath. "Why'd ya stop running, seen the error of your ways?"

"Stop following me or I'll shoot him" The Kangaroo grumbled darkly in his Australian accent.

"Woah Mate, very to the point kind of guy aren't we?" Miles started walking forward casually trying to distract him with movement. It did not work however because as soon as he took a step forward the Kangaroo pulled a gun up to the man's head.

The man whimpered, panicked face now hidden behind a literal sack of cash.

"Yoink, I'll take that" Miles expertly shot a web string at the gun, taking it away. He caught it in his hand and crushed the barrel so it was unusable before throwing it to the ground. "Never bring a gun to an animal throwdown yo. Time to figure out who would win. Arachnid vs marsupial. Basically Australia's past time"

"While I appreciate that you know that I'm a marsupial, I've gotta say that I'm not interested in a fight lov" The Kangaroo backed up and Miles narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Plus there's more than one way to kill a man"

And before Miles could say anything, The Kangaroo tossed the man off the building, turned and hopped away. "Gday mate"

Miles quickly jumped into action, literally. He jumped off the side of the building, released a web shooter and hit the man straight in the chest. Then he turned his body in midair and clung to the brick wall to stop their descent. He also made sure to hold his arm out so the man did not swing against the brick and injured himself.

Miles looked down, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw he had succeeded. "You alright Sir?"

"Y-yes. But please get me down from here!" The man was swinging slightly. He was only about 5 feet in the air at this point.

Miles thanked his amazing reflexes that he had reacted so quickly. If he had just jumped after the man, there would have been a different kind of pizza in New York. A street pizza made of hostage.

A police car pulled up on the street below, lights and sirens blaring. For some reason, there was a low buzzing of spider sense. That was strange...

"I'm going to lower you to the ground now. The police will take it over from there. I have to catch up with the rabbit" he yelled slightly over the siren.

Miles released the web fluid slowly to lower the man to the ground. "Thank you Spiderman!" The man exclaimed, looking very relieved to not be bouncing anymore.

The young hero was just about to swing away when the police door opened and someone started screaming at him. "FREEZE!"

Now a strong tremor flared in his head, alerting him to imminent danger. It scared him as it came out of nowhere and it certainly wasn't from the villain.

A shot rang out. On instinct he turned invisible whipping his head around to find the source of the danger.

But he should have dodged instead of disappearing.

He felt a sharp sting in the back of his arm, a cold piece of metal was lodged into his tricep. The sudden intense pain forced him out of his invisibility.

Another shot rang out, hitting the brick next to his head this time.

Someone was shooting at him.

Miles quickly ducked into cover by swinging around the other side of the building. His spider sense screaming at him to move it.

"Ceasefire!" Someone called out among the noise, and the firing stopped as suddenly as it had started. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Miles clung to the brick, shaking. The police. The police had just SHOT at him.

"Hijo de puta..." Miles cursed under his breath. His right arm was shaking so he had to lean on his legs more for support as to not slip. The pain was bearable for him, but his muscle was in a hard spasm.

"YO WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Spiderman yelled out. He looked over his body, noting that he had dodged every other shot except the first. "I'M ON YOUR SIDE YA KNOW!"

"Oh my God I'm so sorry!" The other cop, who he recognized by voice as one of his father's friends, turned off the sirens and yelled out to him. "He's new!"

Miles laughed, more on the border of panic attack than actual laughed. "You've got to be kidding me."

His father had warned him about police being trigger happy, just in a different context.

"Hey Spiderman. You okay?" The man who he had just saved asked, looking very pale.

No. He wanted to say...wanted to scream. Simple scrapes and cuts would easily be taken care of by his accelerated healing factor. But a bullet hole...that was a whole different story. He would need to stitch himself up, disinfect things...Plus he could FEEL the bullet in his arm.

"Uh y-yeah" he tried to keep his voice calm. He was less shook by the fact that he was shot. He had been shot at a lot and figured one day he would very well be in this predicament. He was mostly shaken at the fact that his allies were the ones that shot at him.

He would have to fish the bullet out later. He didn't have time for this, Kangaroo was escaping.

"YALL AINT GUNNA SHOOT ME AGAIN ARE YOU?" He yelled as he began climbing up the brick with one hand. "CAUSE I WOULD LOVE TO DO MY JOB WITHOUT THE ADDED DIFFICULTY PLEASE"

"You heard the spider, guns down" The older police officer said sharply.

Miles hesitantly came out from around the alley corner.

He got a good look at his attacker. The officer glared up at him, gun in hand still but pointed at the ground.

When no sensation alarmed him in his head, he quickly took off into the night sky back on the track of the villain.

Except now he was fwipping with one hand. And the villain had a very large head start. He could see the figure way off in the distance but he had no idea how he was going to get there.

So instead he slowed his movement after a couple of blocks, landing on a light pole and cursing to himself. He guessed he couldn't win them all. He would have to web up the bad guy on their next encounter. Plus he had saved the hostage and taken a gun from the villian (of course now they could probably buy a whole mob of guns)

He would just have to hope that they had shoved a dye pack in the cash. He made a mental note to practice his speed the next time he was out patrolling.

The pain in his arm decided to make itself known once again, breaking him from his thoughts. Miles hissed through his teeth as he tried to look over the wound. It was in a bad position on the back of his arm. He had to crane his neck to even see the tear in his suit. "Aw man I just resewed this last week. I'm gunna have to get some more fabric."

Spiderman felt a vibration in his hidden pocket in his suit. He unzipped the small zipper pulling out his cell phone in a very protective case to keep it from breaking when he was inevitably punched.

"Hola Madre" Miles said as he answered the call. He tucked the phone between his left ear and shoulder so he could still get a better look at the wound as he talked. "Que paso?"

"Miles honey, just checking to see what time you were coming home? Dinner's almost ready"

Stomach dropping, Miles almost dropped his phone. Oh no. He had totally forgotten he had promised his parents to stay at home this weekend. He had been so busy with vigilante duties that he hadn't had time to visit them for a few weeks. He had blamed it on school work piling up. "Yeah I'm just walking there now"

"I wish you would have taken the bus, I don't like you walking alone at night."

"Technically it's not night yet." The sun was just starting to set. He would actually like to stay out later than this. But even he knew it was careless to stay out with only one working arm. "Plus what's the worst that can happen?"

Maybe getting shot? Or even worse getting shot by the people supposed to protect him?

"Don't talk like that Miles. You know that your padre does a wonderful job cleaning up the streets, but that does not mean you should not be careful"

Miles laughed to himself, genuinely this time despite of the situation. "Yeah I know. I'll see you soon"

"Te amo, see you in a bit"

"Love you too Mom" He hung up the phone and groaned letting his limbs hang off the pole.

So he now had another issue on his hands (well one 'hand' in particular) Blood was dripping down from his arm. It needed to be dealt with and fast. He contemplated swinging over to May's house to have her help. But that was all the way on the other side of town. Plus if she wasn't home, then he would be really late and still stuck in the same situation.

He could go back to school. Unfortunately he didn't have as many supplies there. And he wouldn't be able to sneak into the bathroom to wash off all the blood. He could probably go buy some more supplies and maybe some wet wipes. He didn't have his wallet on him. Ugh.

He hated when he got hurt. It was more annoying than anything. Thankfully G's eating chart had been working wonders for him and he hadn't had another fainting incident since then. Even now he didn't feel bad, the wound just hurt terribly. He wished he had a better healing factor. But thick skin worked better than nothing. He wasn't sure how a spider would give him thicker skin but he could punch rocks without his arm exploding so he wouldn't question it. Especially when his enemies were often built like rocks.

He would have to deal with it at home he decided. If he could make it to the bathroom without alerting anyone he could stitch himself up no problem. His mom had a myriad of health supplies stocked in his bathroom.

So he slid off the lamppost and swung away, making sure to keep a wide berth around the street that the police car had stopped.

...

The sun was just setting beneath the horizon when Miles landed on the roof of his home. His head was buzzing; this time not from his spider sense but from trying to decide what would be his next step.

He would need to stop the bleeding to get into the house. He probably couldn't just sneak into his room without his parents noticing, especially since they were awake and waiting for him.

Plus he had to get into the bathroom to disinfect the wound.

Ow okay first things first let's get this bullet out. Miles thought to himself. It did not feel too far deep it and he was actually surprised with all the movement during the swing over that it hadn't fallen out.

Without thinking too hard about it, he jammed his finger into the hole and scooped it out. He cursed to himself as there was a flash of searing pain up and down his arm. But, he did indeed nail it and the bullet landed with a small clatter onto the roof. He jumped up and down a while on his feet, clutching his arm, until the pain was bearable. Ow ow ow owwww.

Now he had another issue of course, the bullet had been keeping a lot of blood in his body. Oh that's what they meant by 'just leave it in'.

He didn't want to rip up his clothes. What could he use as a bandage?

Well Gwen had talked about how she had used webbing once as a bandage mid fight. That could work.

Twisting his body in a funky way, he aimed the web shooter at the hole and let a very small amount of webbing out. He winced at the sudden pressure but somehow the goop like substance felt soothing on his hot skin.

Thankfully he had also remembered to keep a backpack of clothes hidden inside an air vent on his roof for such an occasion. He opened said vent, the grating came off very easily. Then he reached inside, finding the bag that had been stuck to the metal via a stronger web fluid that May had lent him for things he really wanted to stay stuck (otherwise the fluid melted away after a couple of hours so the city was not covered in long white strands). Better for the environment and so he could not be followed as easily.

He took off his mask, gloves, web shooters, and boots, swapping it out for normal clothing. He would keep the suit on underneath his clothes as extra protection so that he wouldn't drip blood everywhere. So far the webbing was holding well.

He shoved on his jeans and his kicks. It was hard to do with only his left hand. The hardest part was getting his baggy sweatshirt on. But with some effort and interesting facial expressions he was all dressed and looking normal.

Slinging his backpack over his good shoulder, Spider man jumped off the side of the building and clung to the brick. He slowly stuck and unstuck himself so he slid down to the ground.

"What a night" he smiled to himself. Just another crazy situation that he had been finding himself in more often.

He walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell. He had forgotten his keys at school. Well not really forgotten because he hadn't originally planned on going home today. Hopefully his mom wouldn't ask.

Miles thanked the stars that she was too distracted when she opened the door to think about it. "Miles honey!" She exclaimed, opening her arms wide. "Give me a hug! I haven't seen you in weeks!"

Nooooo. Miles forced a smile and lifted his arms to returned the hug. He tried to hide the amount of pain that shot up the muscle just from the simple movement. "Hola madre"

"I love that you're busy with the new school but you should visit more often" His mother smiled sweetly, pushing him inside lightly.

"Yeah, well, It's good to be home" He chuckled.

His temporary hold wasn't holding as well as he had hoped. He started to feel blood oozing down his arm. Probably tore the hold during the hug. Thankfully it was soaking very well into the fabric of his suit and not his baggy sweatshirt. Yet. "Is Dad home from work?"

"He should be back in a bit. He was responding to a last minute call"

"Anything serious?"

"Didn't seem like it. On the news it seemed like the situation had been handled."

Miles peeked into the family room where the TV was on. He caught the headline on the screen flashing 'Kangaroo keep away - villain remains at large'

He shook his head trying not to think about it. He would go out again after his parents were asleep.

"I'm going to take a shower before dinner" he started walking towards the bathroom as his mom turned to the kitchen. "I didn't get a chance to after class. And it was gym."

"Ay si porfavor, you smell horrible"

Hopefully not like blood.

His mom went back to watching the news, distracted. Good.

Okay Miles. Its go time.

Miles made his way into his bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him.

He took of his sweatshirt and tried to remove his spidey suit. But his webbing bandage was attached to his skin and his suit.

Regretting using the temporary bandage and saying sorry to future Miles for having to do more sewing, he ripped the fabric away so he wouldn't have to deal with it now.

His shirt now successfully removed, he now just had to remove the rest of the bandage. From his skin. Oh. Oh no.

His blood ran cold and he desperately grabbed the bandage with no luck.

He couldn't get the webbing off. The parts that had stuck to his skin had really dug in, doing what they were designed to do.

OF COURSE. Miles banged his foot against the small bathroom rug in frustration. He must be cursed with bad luck.

He would either have to wait an hour for the fluid to dissolve, or rip it off like a real band aid.

It would be fine to keep it on and do the stitches later if there weren't small gaps in the webbing where blood was bubbling out. There was no way he could keep his parents from knowing if he didnt stitch himself up right now.

Miles swallowed thickly; he felt sick. He really did not want to do this.

Instead of thinking of it too hard and potentially chickening out, he quickly undid his belt from his pant loops and stuck the leather into his mouth.

He then turned and put on the shower faucet like he was getting ready to clean up. He also connected his phone to the small bluetooth speaker that he kept on the sink. He turned on some rather loud music (not too unlike what he usually did).

Biting down hard on the leather belt, Miles gripped the webbing. His fingers filled the holes where the blood was flowing, making a small squishing noise.

He then pulled with all his might, ripping the webbing off in one strong motion of his left arm.

Miles choked back a scream, tears welling in his eyes as intense pain ran up and down the back of his right arm. Thankfully, biting down on the belt muffled most of the noise.

Blood began dripping down his arm now and he quickly realized he was probably going to get some on the floor if he didnt move it over to the sink.

He stood up quickly, a bit light headed, and swung his arm over the faucet.

He sat there, watching the blood run down his skin, transfixed. He could only hear his own breathing but after blinking a couple of times, tears running down his face, he found he could once again hear the sounds of the shower and music.

The young hero breathed in slowly. Next step Miles next step. Keep going it is not that bad.

His mom had dragged him to every first aid course class that was available since he was in middle school. So he knew what had to be done and how to do it. He just really didn't want to.

He reached into his bag, grabbing the practice needle and thread he had been given for sewing a couple of weeks ago. He cursed himself for getting shot in his dominant arm. He hadn't tried sewing with his left hand yet. Well no time like the present to start learning.

He plugged up the sink so that it would act like a bowl. Then he reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out some peroxide and dumped it in the sink. He then let the thread and needle soak in the sterilizing chemicals. He took a small cloth and dabbed some of the peroxide onto the wound as well to sterilize the area.

He couldn't stay in the bathroom too long, his parents would get suspicious. Which was fine because he wanted this to be done with.

Thankfully, the needle was already threaded and tied on the end. He just needed to thread it into his arm.

That was the part his brain was having a hard time comprehending.

He touched the surrounding area of the wound with a finger. Actually, ripping off the webs had left the area a bit numb. He could use that.

Sucking in what seemed like the thousandth deep breath, he put the belt back in his mouth, looked at the wound in the mirror and got to work.

You got this Miles, just like sewing up a doll.

He tried not to wince (or gag) as he shoved the needle through his skin for the first time. He had to bite down harder on the belt to keep from screaming. It was a slow, meticulous process. But he did not want to rush through it. He didn't want to have to do it again. Or worse have the wound not heal correctly.

The hardest time was keeping his eyes focused on what he was doing. The combination of him breathing heavily, tearing up, and wincing did not mix well.

Nevertheless, he continued on. His arm practically on fire anyways.

He only needed to do three crude stitches when the blood started to clot and stop bleeding as heavily. He probably would have needed more if he wasn't a mutant.

He stood back, double checking his work. Once satisfied, he tied off the other end of the thread, and bit the rest off using his teeth. That would have to do.

Once that was finished, Miles practically tore off the rest of his clothes and dove into the shower. The hot water washed away the thick blood all over bis arm and soothed the burning muscle. He washed his face of the tears and sweat, sighing in relief.

He realized his hands were shaking slightly. He took some deep breaths to calm his adrenaline. It was cool. Everything was fine. No one had saw, his wound was cleaned and on the mend. He was proud of himself. He had taken care of business like a professional. Hopefully that was the last time he would get caught so unprepared.

He kept the shower brief, once he was back in the right mind and felt a bit less shaky.

As soon as he stepped out of the shower, he groaned internally, realizing he still had to clean up. There was blood splatters over the sink and a bit on the floor tile (thankfully his carefulness made sure he didn't spill any on anything that would leave a stain like the rug)

But first he needed to dry off and wrap his wound before it started bleeding all over. He had done a decent job with the stitches. they were holding strong and the while was not gushing blood like before.

He picked a towel on the drying rack and dabbed around the area. It was still tender. The muscle was sore and it felt weird to have thread in between his skin. He would probably have to remove the stitching in a couple days.

Observing his stitching, Miles felt pride from his work. The wound looked clean and on the mend. He still did not have full mobility in his upper arm just yet.

The spidey gang (and probably even the sewing girls) would be proud.

Once dried off he took some clean gauze from the cabinet and firmly wrapped his arm. The pressure was both painful and easing at the same time. Like touching the top of a warm oven.

Miles also popped 3 painkiller tablets into his mouth to try to take the edge off. Now that he was out of the heat of the shower, his heartbeat pounded painfully against the tight bandages on his arm. He contemplated taking a fourth for safe measure but since the recommended dosage was 2 capsules he decided to hold off for now.

He gathered all his stuff (including the bloody web patch job he had attempted and a small cloth that he had used to wipe off the blood on the sink) and shoved it in his bag. He would have to sneak in some laundry tomorrow before going out to fight crime. Thankfully YourTube had provided a lot of examples on how to clean out blood easily.

He wrapped himself in a towel, trying to hide the stitching using his backpack. Once he made it into his room he shoved the evidence deep into his closet.

He went with a pair of comfy sweatpants and a dark red long sleeve shirt (just in case).

"Dinner's ready!" he heard his Mom call down the hall.

Miles stomach flipped a bit at the thought of food right now. He was all riled up still. But he had to act like nothing was wrong. He was a teenage boy, teenage boys are supposed to be hungry all the time.

Plus he could probably us the extra energy to put back into healing, in lieu of sleep. He still had to go out later. Spider man didn't have the luxury of a night off.

His dad was already sitting at the table when he finally entered into the kitchen, saving him from having to give his dad a full hug. Miles did however greeted him a side hug with his good arm. It was nice to be home with his family despite it all. He wished he got to see them more; well despite seeing his dad almost nightly on the streets. "Hey Dad what's going on?" he asked, taking a seat next to him at the table? "Busy saving the world?"

"Busy is right. We've been hiring new police like crazy after the whole Kingpin incident." His dad said, sounding a bit tired himself. "A bunch of undisciplined rookies from Jersey. Looking to make a name for themselves here by taking down super villains now that Spiderman is gone"

Miles groaned internally watching as his dad begin to eat. He hadn't thought about how he was actually going to eat the food. His arm hurt to move. It would look very peculiar if he just randomly started using his left hand now. Like hey mom and dad I'm trying to become ambidextrous? That might work...no that would be dumb.

He leaned forward, resting his arm against the table. He then picked up the fork and tested out his method of using only wrist movement. He had to lean in to have the fork reach his face. It hurt, but it was better than moving his arm up and down repeatedly.

Hopefully his mom wouldn't decided to lecture him with manners about his elbows being on the table.

Thankfully she didn't say a word as she set down a plate of chicken, rice, and peas in front of him.

"I heard there was a shooting down on Manhattan Ave." His mom asked instead, looking concerned. "Was everyone okay?"

"Yes, it was a false alarm and no one was hurt."

Pendejadas no one was hurt, Miles picked angrily at his food but realized that wasn't a great idea as the motion made pain rocket up his arm. He let out a cough instead of a yelp and waited for the pain to stop before starting to pick up more food with his fork.

"It was a misfire." His dad continued. "One of the rookies apparently hadn't been trained for the new Spiderman"

Probably something that should have been covered in the orientation slides. He chomped down on a big bite of peas trying to hide his sour attitude.

"So what is going to happen to them? Did you have them fired?" His mom asked.

"No, he'll have to go back through training and-"

Miles tried very hard not to spit out his food. "What!?" he choked out. "You didn't fire him!?"

He instantly regretted his outburst ant hoped his dad wouldn't realize that he had used 'him' instead of 'them'. "I uh, I mean that seems like a pretty big deal. For someone to shoot at...the wrong person?"

The officer looked down upon his son in surprise as he had mostly been quiet up until now. "No. It was a rookie mistake. Besides it sometimes is hard to judge who is a hero and who is a villian."

"Aren't you like...always training that appearances don't matter?"

"I'd say there's a difference between judging someone for their race and judging someone for being a mutant who could possibly be dangerous."

Miles stopped talking, deciding he didn't want to talk about it any further. It was something that couldn't be helped for now.

He couldn't fix everything wrong in the world right away. He would just have to remember to be a bit more cautious of those on duty.

Picture for chapter: /dd0y787


End file.
